April 06th, 2025

The 2025 season is now under way! 
On the 5th of April the QRS Wairoa Athletic Football Team traveled up to Gisborne to take on fellow on field rivals Smash Palace Shockers Green. It's always a very entertaining match up when we play and this one didn't disappoint. Athletic started on the back foot defending from a relentless attacking display from Shockers right from kickoff with Athletic's Goal Keeper Phil Molina making numerous saves to keep the scores level. In a back and fourth battle Athletic strung up a few good phases and had multiple shots from Athletic player Raihania Edwards-Hammond making a nuisance of the Shockers backline just narrow of the back of the net.  Score 0-0 while standouts from the backline Mike Hardie and Luke Graves and Goalie Phil Molina were hot on form it just wasn't enough when Shockers Striker screamed a ball into the top right hand corner with a sensational goal Shockers 1 Athletic 0. The second half was much more of the same back and fourth both sides having many chances but to  no avail. Athletic threw everything at it to try level the scores but Shockers Goalkeeper JK wasn't having it, final score 1-0 Shockers win. With a few debuts for QRS Wairoa Athletic, we  showed promise with a few more trainings  and a couple players still to return we can turn this season around it's not the start we were hoping for but it shows there's heaps of positives and potential to make a push for the title.
Player of the day goes to Phil Molina for his heroic saves that kept Athletic in the game.

QRS Athletic now look forward to next weekend's challenge on the 12th of April where we take on Ngatapa Silkies at Bayleys Athletic Park. Come on down and support the team for some Saturday afternoon entertainment where we aim to defend our turf ⚫️⚪️.

---